A Boeing jet intended for a Chinese airline landed back at the planemaker’s US production hub on Sunday, a victim of the tit-for-tat bilateral tariffs launched by Donald Trump.
The 737 MAX, which was meant for China’s Xiamen Airlines, landed at Seattle’s Boeing Field at 6.11pm, according to a Reuters witness. It was painted with Xiamen livery.
The jet, which made refuelling stops in Guam and Hawaii on its 5,000-mile (8,000-km) return journey, was one of several 737 MAX jets – Boeing’s bestselling model – that had been waiting at Boeing’s Zhoushan completion centre for final work and delivery.
A Chinese airline taking delivery of a Boeing jet could be crippled by the tariffs, given that a new 737 MAX has a market value of around $55m, according to IBA, an aviation consultancy. Beijing is reportedly considering ways to support airlines that lease Boeing jets and are facing higher costs.
Last week it was reported that China’s government had asked Chinese airlines to pause purchases of aircraft-related equipment and parts from American companies like Boeing. China holds about 20% of the expected global demand for aircraft over the next two decades.
Boeing’s order book had 130 planes scheduled for deliver to Chinese companies at the end of March for both commercial airlines and leasing firms, Airways Mag reported.
It was not clear which party made the decision for the aircraft to return to the US. Boeing and Xiamen had not responded to Reuters requests for comment at time of publication.
Just hours before Trump detailed his so-called “liberation day” tariffs, Boeing chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, told a US Senate hearing that the company sold about 80% of its planes overseas and wanted to avoid getting into a situation where “certain markets become closed to us”.
Ortberg said there was about half a trillion dollars in backlogged orders at the time.
Confusion over changing tariffs could leave many aircraft deliveries in limbo, with some airline CEOs saying they would defer delivery of planes rather than pay duties, analysts say.
Michael O’Leary, the group chief executive of budget airline Ryanair, told the Financial Times last week that the company was due to receive 25 Boeing aircraft from August but “we might delay them and hope that common sense will prevail”.
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